Elastic shaft connection.



F. TYSON. ELASTIU SHAFT coNNEnTmN. APPLICATION FILED HOY'` 15. 1909.

Patented -Nov. 22, 191.0.

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' a driven element for the purpose ot mitigating the strain upon one or other of said elcments .by reason of the unbalanced condition between the power applied by the drivingy element and the resistance produced bythe work accomplished by the driven element.

The objects of my improvement are to generally improve .devices of the character mentioned, and to provide a device ot simple and` inexpensive construction which will have lbut `ew parts lwhile at the'same time being strong and thoroughly eiiicient in compensating for variations both as to stress and rate of motion as between a driven. element and a driving element, to provide a device wherein any undue strain exerted thereon will not produce permanent injury thereto and to accomplish other objects readily apparent to those skilled in the art. The construction. by which l attain these objects is illustrated in the accompanying drawlng, in

,v which- Figure l is a side elevation of a shaft connection embodying my invention as applied tothe jack-shaft of an automobile. is a view, partly in longitudinal section, illustrating the internal construction ot the device. F 1g. 8 is a view, partly in longitu dinal section, of a modified form of the device. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectionalview taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Throughout the several views similar numerals of reference indicate similar parts.

The numeral" l indicates the shaft connected either directly or intermediately with somesource of power, as a gasolene engine. The numeral 2 indicates generally a universal joint or connection between the shaft 1 and the elastic shaft connection. The said elastic shaft connection comprises a driving member 3, a relatively rotatable spring casing ha slidable head 5, a helical connecting spring anda driven member 7 Operative connection. between` the driving member- ,3

y and the'nniversal joint 2 is made by any- Suitable,' well known mechanical means, as

Specicaton of Letters' Patent. Application filed November 15, 1909.

Fig. 2-

ratentea new. 24a, 1ero.

Serial No. 528,062.

by the spaced integral arms 8. The driving.-

element thus transmits rotary motion to the said driving member 3, as will be readily understood;

The slidable headb is preventedfrom relative rotation with the driving member by y means of the splines 9, which are preferablyV formed' integrally with the driving member 3 and are longitudinally slidable within corresponding grooves 1n the head Thedriv` ing member 3 is preferably formed of sutlilr cient length to extend beyond the head 5 and form a bearing t'oi the spring casing 1, which is rotatable with reference to the said driving member. .The driven member 7 may be the forward end of the jack-shaft, as y l illustrated in the drawing or may ybe connected to some other device which it is `intended to operate. In the construction illustratcd the forward end of the jack-shaft extends nearly to the' head 5, there beinga` slight space between them as illustratedin Fig. 2.. VThe driving member 3- and the driven member 7 are independent of eachl other` in] so far as rotation is concerned exceptfor they l i elastic or resilient connection accomplished by the spring G. ably formed of a' single piece, thevends of which are bent at right angles to the general axis of thedevice and are arranged in aper- T he said spring is prefertures in the sides of the slidable head 5, as

illustrated in Figs. 2 and 4. Extending into the spring casing 4t the said spring is wound in a double helical formation about `the driven member 7, the two parts thereof winding about the said member in the same direction and being united by an integral cross-piece or yoke at l0 having its axis at right angles .to the general axis of the de-` vice. The attachment of the spring (3 to the driven member 7 is preferably made atfthe said yoke portion, and one suitable method` of fastening is that illustrated in Fig. 2.

There it will be noted that a diagonal slot` l1 is cutl into the driven member 7, into which the yoke connecting the two portions of the spring is forced. The spring casing 4t is provided with the reduced portion `l2 which is adapted to closely t the driven member 7, and some means of clamping the shoulder' 13 of the said reduced portion against the spring to leep it `nplace within 4. said slot 11 should be provided.

v.Such means lli) may consist of an adjusting nut 15d and -w nut- 15 as illustrated in Fig'sgl .m2, the

1. ,against relative rotation with the member 7.

yso

It will now be understood that the casing 4 and the connected ends of the spring 6 will 'be adapted to rotate with the driven member 7, whereas the driving member 8 will carry with it in its rotation the slidable head 5 and the separated ends of the said spring G.

1t is immaterial, to an extent, inwhich direction the spring 6 is wound, buty it is the preferable construction to solarrange said spring that in the usual and normal rotation of the driving member 3 the tendency will be to increase the number of helical turns or windings of said spring, thus tending to contract said spring both transversely and longitudinally. The transverse or diainetrical contr-action is limited by reason-of the fact that when said springy has suiiiciently contracted itwill engage the member 7 about which it is wound, and the longitudinal contraction of said spring will produce a sliding movement of the head 5 with reference ,to the member 3, the said head 5 readily assuming the proper longitudinal adjustment with reference to the driving member while remaining in fixed rotative relation with said member.

Itshoiild be noted that the spring 6 may be connected to the head 5 and to the driven element- 7 in any appropriate mechanical manner, the method shown and described being only one suggested form of connection. It should be also noted that it may be desirable to form the spring in two separate parts instead of from a single piece, suitable connections for the separate ends .of said springs being made with the member 7 instead of the 'connection illustrated in Fig. 2.

The beveled gears 17 and 18the latter being arranged upon the shaft 19 are illustrated merely for the purpose of showing a practical application of my invention in the case`of an automobile or similar device, the said gears forming no part of the pi'esent'in vention.

An elastic shaft connection of the character described having been provided the operation of the same is asfollows. Upon the power being first applied and producing rotation of the driving member 3, the rotation of said member will be communicated through the splines 9 to the head 5. The head 5, in rotating will at iii-st wind the inert spring 6, thus placing the same under torsional strain and imparting what may be termed an initial resilient torque to the driven member 7. The driven member 7 is thus permitted to begin its rotation at a slightly later instant of time than the first movement of rotation of the driving member 3, and at an appreciahly slower rate of speed, the elasticity of the spring G permitting some relative movementI as between the member 3 and the member 7 in starting. 1t will be evident, however, that after the member 7 has been fairly started any unnecessary torsional strain remaining in the spring 6 will be relieved by a further relative movement as between the member 3 and member 7, the said spring normally bearing only so much strain as is necessary to transmit the required power to the driven element. If.

at any time during the operation of the device there is any sudden over-balance of power or resistance, the said springwill in a large measure prevent harmful results, by elastically distributing said over-balance as between the unbalanced parts. The application of the herein described invention to gasolene motor driven automobiles will therefore be highly' advantageous, asany pulsation or irregularity in the rotation of the driving element will be in a large measure vl,overcome in the transmission of the power through the herein described device to the driven element.

out shock to the driving. element.

In Fig. 3 is illustrated a modified form of the device wherein the spring casing 4 is not temployed and wherein two separate springs v are used. The driving member 20 :in said figure is provided externally with the splines 2l which form longitudinally slidable connection with a collar 22 t which oneend of each spring 23 is connected in any suitable manner. The driving member is-provided with a longitudinally extending barrel portion 24 around which the springs 23 are helically disposed, the remaining ends of said springs being attached in any suitable manner to a head 25 keyed against rotation on the driven member 7. The said driven member extends through said head and is journaled within the barrel portion 24. The spring casing 26 in said modified form consists preferably of a sheet metal device of tubular' form attached externally to the collai' 22 and extending rearwardly in spaced relation with other. parts of the device, but forming a suiiicient protection to the parts inclosed.

l claim:

l. An elastic shaft connection comprising a driviiig-member, a driven member, a head rotatable with one of said members and lon- In a similar manner .sudden resistances will be over-come withgitudinally slid-able therealoiig and a helical spring operatively connecting said drivingand driven members, one end of said spring being connected to said head on one member and the other end of said 'spring being connected to the other member.

2. An elastic shaft connection comprising a driving member, a driven member and a helical spring, said spring being connected to one of saidanembers, and spring coi'lnecting 'means arranged upon said other member and.

adapted to fasten said other member and said spring to each other for rotation together, while permitting relative longitudi-- nal movement as between said spring connecting means and said other member.

3. device of the character described comprising a driving member, a head rotatable with said driving member but longitudinally slidable with reference theretoa driven member, a helical spring operatively connectingsaid head with said driven meniber and a spring casing connected to one oi said members and arranged about .said

sp1-infr.

4. A device of the character described comprising a driving member, a head rotatable with said driving member but longitudinally slidable with reference thereto, a drivenmember, a spring casing mounted on said driven member and rotatable there- With and a helicalspring located within said spring casing and operatively connecting Y said head with said driven member.`

v- 5. 'A device of the Acharacter described comprisinga driving. member, a' head rotatable therewith but longitudinally slidable with reference thereto, a dri-ven` member, a.

presence of two witnesses.

posed about said driven Inember andiatl 1 tached at its other end 'to said slidable head'. 7. A device of the characterl described comprising a?r driving member, a, head rotatable therewith but longitudinally slida'blc with reference thereto, a drivenmember, a spring casing tixedly mounted/on said driven, 4'5 member, said spring casing/'and' said .driving member provided with mutually -engagmg bearing surfaces, said driven vmember-` extending within said spring casing; and a Y double helical spring attached to saiddriven member and wound about the samewithin said casing and attached to 'said slidable head, saidlspring constituting thesole ovver-l conducting medium between said member and said driven member.

ivlng r i .1; i :x 8. An `elastic power connectionl comprisf` v ing a driving member, a driven member `and A resillent connectingfmeans intermediate Said members7 said means adapted to transmit `power from said driving member to said driven member, said resilient lconnecting means iijxedly connected to one of said meml bers and non-rotatably but?? longitudinally y i slidably` connected to said other 4m whereby the shock of transmission is ab-4 sorbed without changing the relative longif.A

tudinal relation of saiddriving and driven members. j v 'Y In testimony that I claim the above, I

have liereunto subscribed my |namel in theggo FRANK TvsON.l

Witnesses:

IRENE yLU'rz, VViLLiAM H. MiLLEn. 

